Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Cleaning Up the Mess
“EVE!! EVE!! ARE THE REPORTS TRUE?! WERE YOU PART OF THE UNDERGROUND GOLF MAFIA?!?”
“IS ARIOS GOING TO DROP YOU AS A CLIENT?!?”
“GIVE US A STATEMENT, EVE!!”
"MISS AMAWASHI, WHAT CAUSED YOU TO COLLAPSE YESTERDAY?!?"
"AOI, ARE YOU ABLE TO CONTINUE PLAYING GOLF?"
The reporters and photographers who had gathered at the “Old Course” at the Royal and Ancient St. Annlies Golf Course for the Women’s British Open, were hounding Eve and her caddie for that final round, her one-time golf partner and would-be rival, Aoi Amawashi, as the two walked to the scorer’s tent as Eve went to sign her card for the final round. As they approached the tent, two familiar faces were waiting for them, their normal caddies, Ichina Saotome and Amane Shinjo.
“Eve, Aoi!! This Way!!” Amane shouted as Ichina put her petite body between her friends and the gaggle of reporters hounding them. The head of Scoring was there to collect her scorecard. “Congratulations on your round, Miss Burton. If you and your Caddie, Miss Amawashi, can sign the scorecard here and here, your score will be official.” Aoi took her Stamp from Amane and pressed it to the spot on the card she needed to sign, while Eve flourished her signature, finally able to write her true name after so many years not remembering who she was.
As soon as they signed the card, a Tournament Officials walked up to her, “Miss Burton, The Tournament Committee Chairman and the Representative from the Sanctioning Body wish to speak with you about these allegations, would you follow Me please?”
“What the Hell do they want to talk to Me about now?” Eve asked, her voice rising as her frustrations over the allegations started to boil over, but before she could start into a rant, Aoi put her hand on her shoulder, “It’s all right, Eve, we’ll wait for you.” Her words seemed to calm her down and the four of them walked into the clubhouse.
Thirty minutes later, Eve stormed out of the room where her meeting happened, “Lousy Bastards!” she shouted as she headed into the locker room, still full of the lower ranked golfers who had managed to reach the final two days. Aoi, having long since changed out of Ichina’s coveralls she used on the course the previous three rounds, followed her in.
“Eve, what happened?” she asked as Eve threw her visor against the lockers.
“They stripped me of the win, and I’m getting suspended for three years!” she shouted. “I want to know how they found out about the story. Who told them?” Eve sat down on the long bench that sat between the locker rows, the frustration evident on her face. “It’s bad enough I almost lost you yesterday, but this hurts, I had that old hag beaten, it’s Not Fair!!” In frustration, she kicked a bronze colored trash can standing by the lockers, sending it clanging down the aisle.
Aoi could do only one thing for her friend. She put her arms around her and hugged her. Surprisingly, Eve returned the hug, holding onto Aoi for dear life. After a few moments, she released her grip on her, “Eve, it’s not going to do either of us any good if you try to…” before she could say anything further, her eyes suddenly rolled back into her head and she collapsed in Eve’s arms. “Aoi?? AOI!!” Eve screamed as her friend crumpled in her arms. Amane and Ichina rushed to her side as Aoi slowly regained consciousness.
“We’re going back to the Hospital, Aoi, that’s enough stress for the day,” Amane said as she helped the girl to her feet, arm slung around her waist. Ichina got on her other side and did the same. The press gaggle, who would be given a statement by the sanctioning body over Eve’s suspension, never saw the four women leave out of the side entrance to the clubhouse and into a waiting town car, which sped them back to the hospital. It would be hours before the questions died down.
Out on the course, the remaining golfers had gathered at the 18th hole as the trophy presentation began. Word had already spread about Eve’s disqualification, so everyone knew that the winner would be Juha Hamilail, AKA The Lunar Empress. As she was introduced to the roar of the crowd, her caddy, Karen Lapana, watched from the side with a grin as wide as the Grinch after stealing Christmas from the Whos in Whoville. She applauded as Juha raised the Claret Jug trophy that signified her claim to this year’s title. She had good reason to be happy at how Juha retained her title for another year.
Of all the people gathered around the 18th green, Juha was the only person who knew the truth about the source of the information. Karen was the one who leaked Eve’s connections to the Underground Golf Mafia to the Golf Media outlets, thanks to the info bought from Remelda, the American Golfer who Eve defeated a year ago in Nafrece. “Juha is once again reigning champion,” she thought to herself. “That little girl will never play again, and it was worth every penny to that bitch for all that juicy info.” A TV camera panning the scene caught Karen’s grin, as the golf commentators assumed that the caddy was happy for her golfer’s success.
As the Ceremonies got underway, back in Nafrece, Eve's friend and former Underground Golf rival, Viperé, and her boyfriend, were still mulling over the source of the leak about Eve’s past. As the trophy presentation continued, she sat back on the couch on her yacht. “I don’t understand, who would be insane enough to expose Eve like that?” Her boyfriend, A high-level henchman who worked for Nicholas, head of one of the subordinate mafia crews operating in Nafrece, and owner of the recently built Grand Nafrece Casino, also thought about the potential sources, “Well, we know it’s not Katherine, she doesn’t want to betray her word to Mr. Burton.” Viperé agreed, “No, even She wouldn’t want to put that noose around her neck. It has to be someone else.”
When Eve regained her memories, she learned she was the granddaughter of the true head of the Golf Mafia in all of Europe, Michael Burton, the CEO of the Atrios Golf brand. Burton had arranged a rematch to remove the contract hit Katherine put out on Eve after she defeated Rose Aleon in a sudden death match a year before, one that proved fatal to Rose. Eve’s defeat of another American golfer, Remelda, not only put Eve in the clear, but also brought Katherine to heel in Burton’s organization. As they pondered, his phone rang, “Yes? What is it, Gerard?”
Viperé watched as her man’s eyes widened and he sat up on the couch, “How much was wired to her?” He looked at the screen just as Karen’s smile was being shown, and the wheels in his mind began to turn at a high rate. “When was that wire initiated? Last night, you say?” He looked at his girlfriend, who was mouthing the words, “what’s happening?” but got an index finger raised, asking her for a moment, “Okay, let me know if you can figure out whose account that was, I have a bad feeling about this.” He hung up the phone and paused the live stream on the TV.
“What is it, love?” she asked. “What was that about?”
He stood up, “That was Nicholas’ money guy, Gerard. He had orders from the boss to keep an eye on the accounts of some of the heavy hitters in the Underground golf game, in case someone gets a big payday. He said that Remelda just had about 6 Million Euros deposited in her private account. The transfer originated in Scotland last night, right before the news about Eve’s Mafia past was revealed.” Viperé stood up, “You don’t think Juha could have…”
He shook his head, “No, if there’s one thing about Juha Hamilail, she’s exceedingly honest. She’d never dirty her hands like that, it would be against her character. However…” he pointed to the screen, where Karen’s evil grin was shown prominently, “Her caddy? She seems like the type to pull that off.” Viperé looked at the woman on the screen, trying to recall if she recognized her. “Let’s see what we can find about her caddy, we owe it to Eve.” He nodded and opened up his laptop.
An hour and a half after the ceremonies had wrapped up at St. Annlies, Aoi was opening her eyes in the same hospital room as before, only this time, her three friends were surrounding her. Eve was seated in a chair next to the hospital bed, holding her hand. Amane stood near the window on the phone, while Ichina was sitting on another chair, eyes closed as she was napping slightly. Aoi’s eyes opened to her friend sitting there, “I must have died, because you’re here and not with a hamburger,” she said, a huge smile on her face. Eve smirked, “I had my hamburger, it wasn’t as tasty as when we won the doubles championship,” she said smirking.
Amane moved to the other side of the bed after hanging up the phone, “What’s important is that you’re still alive, Aoi. Now we need to go home and start your recovery.” Aoi nodded and looked at Eve, “You’ll be coming with us, right? You’ve got three years, so there’s nothing that couldn’t stop you from coming back to school and finishing, right?” Even though both had turned professional, there was really nothing to stop either girl from at least finishing High School. Aoi had spent the year before, when not getting treatment, returning to Raihou Academy and continuing her studies before the start of the pro season in Japan.
Eve looked at her, and shook her head, “No, I need to handle something here, while I’m suspended there are some things I need to learn again. I want to learn more about my Mother and how she and My father met.” Amane looked at Aoi, “Eve, maybe you should consider talking to Aoi’s father about him then,” Ichina looked confused at her colleague’s words held in the air.
Eve looked at her then at Aoi, who sat there smiling, “That’s right, He told me the truth, Coach Amuro is My real Father.” from the chair by the window, Ichina screamed, “WWWWHHHAAAAAAA??????” as she fell out of the chair. Amane pushed up her glasses, “That’s right, you didn’t know did you? Come on, Saotome-San, I’ll tell you over some coffee.” Amane walked over and helped her to her feet, leading her fellow caddie out of the room in order to let the two girls talk privately. Amane knew about their rooftop confrontation the previous summer when Eve’s memories resurfaced, so she was giving her friends the chance to mend fences.
“So He told you the truth?” Eve asked. Aoi smiled and nodded, “ He told me everything, how he and My mother had fallen in love, and what your Father did to save me.” Eve looked at her, “Save you? What are you talking about?”
Aoi spent the next hour explaining the circumstances behind her parents’ marriage. Eve learned that her father, Kazuhiko, married Seira in order to keep Aoi’s grandfather from forcing Seira to terminate her pregnancy. At some point, when he discovered that Eleanor had given birth to Eve, he used the excuse of wanting to play on the European Tour as an excuse to leave to be with his true family.
“Wow, Dad did that? I never knew that, That explains why he said what he said,” Eve pondered as she sat there. She remembered the words her father told her the first time he met her, “You are My One and Only Daughter.” Now it made sense, her father never forgot about Eve, and although he was helping to raise Aoi during her formative years, He never stopped thinking about her.
For the first time, Eve cried for her father, realizing how much he loved her and the sacrifices he made to save her friend’s life as well. She wondered, if he and her mother hadn’t been killed on the cruise ship disaster that robbed her of her memories, would she have been introduced to Aoi earlier in life? Would they have grown up as sisters? And what would have happened to Klein, Lily, and the girls if they hadn’t found her? What might have happened to them if she hadn’t been found on that beach? It started to get overwhelming to think about all the what ifs, but as she thought, Aoi’s hand squeezed hers.
“Hey, Partner, you okay?”
That innocent smile of hers instantly dissipated the thoughts Eve had been struggling with and brought her back to reality. “Just thinking about Dad, I have so much I want to know about his life, and Mom, that’s why I’m staying here, just like you are learning about your own Father and his relationship with your mother.” Eve then suddenly got a strange look on her face as something occurred to her, “Wait a minute, does this mean that Captain Jinguji could end up as your Stepmom?”
Eve started laughing at the prospect of their former captain marrying their coach. Aoi started pouting, “Eve, that’s not important right now. Besides, I already gave her my blessing to take care of him,” she said as she smiled again. The words shocked Eve, she was not prepared for Aoi to hit back with that revelation. The Two of them then started to laugh as Amane and Ichina returned.
Three days later, Ichina, Amane and Aoi were waiting at the International Airport in Glasgow, waiting to fly back to Japan. Ichina and Eve came to an understanding, Ichina would return and finish her education while Eve endured the suspension. Eve wouldn’t tell her where she would be while she was waiting out the suspension, but did say that she would find her when the time came. But that was not without her own sadness at leaving her friend and golfer behind.
“I wish Eve-san was coming home with us, Amawashi-San,” she said as she clutched her golf bunny backpack. Aoi and Amane both nodded, “Saotome-San, Eve is a unique individual, she isn’t someone who will let herself get tied down until she’s ready. All we can do is wait for the day she comes back into our lives,” Amane’s words seemed to do the trick as Ichina eased her grip on her backpack.
Aoi was quietly looking through pictures from the previous couple of days, after being released from the hospital. She and Eve spent the last two days exploring the other golf courses in Scotland, taking in the sensations of being in Golf’s birthplace. There were pictures of the two of them looking over the links at Troon, Carnoustie, and of course, the Royal and Ancient St. Andrews. The last picture was taken just before the three entered the airport, it was Eve and Aoi hugging, bonded now as stepsisters, with the promise to resume their match when Eve finishes her suspension and Aoi is healthy enough to play a full tournament. She sat and recalled that last conversation, not more than an hour before.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come back to school??” Aoi asked her as they stood in front of the airport entrance. Eve smiled, “Like I said before, I don’t have anything more to learn there, it’s time to find out who I really am now.” Aoi gave her a hug, squeezing her stepsister as hard as she could. “Promise Me you’ll stay in touch, Eve, I would be sad if I lost you again,” Her eyes were starting to tear up, after knowing each other for just over a year, she had never felt closer to anyone like Eve. She wasn’t just her partner on the course, she was family now, carrying the legacy of their father, Kazuhiko, with her.
“Hey, don’t get weepy on Me, you still owe me some hamburgers,” Eve said with a wink, gently patting Aoi on the head. “Shrimp, you get your caddy game to the top, I’m going to need you soon,” she said to Ichina, which grimaced for a moment at the sound of her nickname, then smiled through the tears in her eyes, “As long as you need Me, I’ll be there.” Eve then nodded to Amane, no words were needed between the two. They had grown to understand each other now, and despite their early friction, Eve had come to respect Amane as part of their family. The three waved their goodbyes as they entered the terminal for their flight home.
Behind her, Alan Harvey opened the door to the car for her, “I must say, Miss Amawashi was an incredible young woman, I can see why she is so important to you, Mistress Eve.” Eve turned to him, “Hey, what did I say about calling me that?” Harvey chuckled, “Forgive an old Man, it is getting harder to differentiate you from your late Mother, you carry yourself like her so much.” Eve smiled and patted his chest, “Okay, let’s go home and see Gramps. I’m sure he’s going to want to talk about some things,” she said as she stepped into the car. Harvey closed the door and got into the driver’s seat, driving off to the private airstrip where a jet waited to return the two to Nafrece.